LiverKick - LiverKick

Part of the fun of the upcoming weeks will be watching, one-by-one, to see which fighter picks what side in the ongoing battle between K-1 and GLORY. Yesterday we announced that former World MAX Champion Albert Kraus has chosen to sign with GLORY Sports International, making him the second-biggest name in their tournament, and today Iron Mike Zambidis made an announcement on his official Facebook page saying that he will be participating in the K-1 World MAX Final 16 on May 27th in Madrid, Spain.

Zambidis might be one of the fighters who has never won a K-1 World MAX Championship, but in 2010 the world saw a resurgence of sorts that culminated in a loss to Giorgio Petrosyan in the World MAX semi-finals, but continued his tear through the world in 2011 in a world without K-1. Zambidis went 4-2 in 2011, with a loss to John Wayne Parr as well as a controversial loss to Batu Khasikov, losing his W5 title which he had won from Dzabar Askerov earlier on in the year in a four-man Grand Prix.

This leaves the projected World MAX field featuring names like; Zambidis, Chahid, Andy Souwer, Gago Drago, Artur Kyshenko, Harut Grigorian, Yasuhiro Kido, Yuji Nashiro, Su Hwan Lee, Abraham Roqueni, Longern Samui Pro (rumored) and Chris Ngimbi. One could argue that so far it is a better field than the field that GLORY has produced, but both still have open spots for fighters and there are still a few x-factors in the wild.

Right now is an interesting time for the world of kickboxing, with there being more promotions than ever before that are vying for the top fighters and for the worldwide kickboxing audience. There is a lot of talent out there, but there is also a lot of talent considering the more lucrative sport of MMA. ACB Kickboxing is one of those promotions vying for international renown and have decided to piece together a documentary series called Homeland on YouTube. The first episode is up now and is pretty interesting.

The doc features famous trainers Lucien Carbin and Dennis Krauweel talking about the sport, the fighters and the future. What I found most interesting was Lucien Carbin's section in the beginning, where he spoke about the sport and where it stands. Something that I've been harping on for years is that kickboxing should move away from the K-1 rules more. The whole three rounds thing was decided upon for tournament settings and somehow stuck, then you have rules like the clinch rule that was instated because of fighters like Buakaw and Sem Schilt winning fights that frankly, old K-1 didn't want them to win. Carbin talks about how these rules are ridiculous, as well as how many were opposed to women fighting, but that he's seen something special in a lot of the female fighters that have been coming up, including a drive unlike he's ever seen and technical acumen.

This is what a lot of us have been waiting for; what will GLORY do with those "Super Fight Series" fights on their undercards? We spoke with them and found out that they'd be on their website, but it wasn't clear when they'd appear and if they'd cost money to watch or not. Well, today we stirred to find a nice surprise; the GLORY 10 undercard is up on their site and it is entirely free! That means that the fights that you missed can be viewed now on GLORY's website on demand for absolutely free while we get excited over GLORY 11 Chicago.

After being missing for almost three weeks, it appears that the disappearance of former GLORY Welterweight Champion has come to a somber conclusion. While police have not made a positive confirmation yet, reports have surfaced that on Thursday a man spotted a body floating in the river near where Marc de Bonte's car was found abandoned over two weeks ago.

De Bonte was said to have gone out with friends in the Belgian town of Turnhout on that Friday evening that he went missing, although his car was found in Best on Wilhelmina Canal Street. According to one of the gyms that Marc trained at, Training Unit, they were told that a body was found and that there was a "99% chance" of it being Marc.

The Eindhoven police twitter account provided two brief updates on the find, one of which claimed that due to similar clothing the body was believed to be de Bonte's, the other that they won't know for sure until Saturday when they do an official identification on the body.

While there has been no official word just yet, the kickboxing world seems somber and already in mourning for the young fighter who was preparing to participate in the Kunlun 80kg tournament as well as upcoming Enfusion Live events. It seems like it is only a matter of time before the body is identified as de Bonte's and there are so many questions left hanging in the air still.

If you've been following muay thai and kickboxing for a while you definitely know the name Liam Harrison. Harrison, based out of the UK, has been one of the best non-Thai fighters to compete in the muay thai ring over the past few years and has built up quite a name for himself. Over that span of time he has fought a whopping 99 times and his 100th fight will not only be a big deal, it'll be a huge deal. At Yokkao 15 on October 10th he will face multiple-time Lumpinee champion Singdam Kiatmoo9.

Singdam is revered as one of the top fighters in the world at 135lbs, trading wins with the best fighters in the world over the past few years at Lumpinee Stadium, the mecca for muay thai. This headlining bout will be joining the other headlining bout from Yokkao 14 on the same night between Greg Wootton and Saenchai in what should be another crazy double header of a night for the fans in the UK.

The first Qabala Fight Series event on June 29th in Azerbaijan have announced their full fight card including super fights between Glory ranked fighters and an 8 man Lightweight tournament.

These fights will help the Glory fighters climb the ranks on the Glory ladder, and for all the fighters who have not fought in Glory yet, this is a great chance to impress and secure a place in the #1 kickboxing organization in the world.

This is a big fight for both men. For Rico after taking a gift decision over Hesdy Gerges he has to prove that he belongs at the top, and for Errol after having a great 2011, he is out to prove that no one can derail his quest to the top.

The first round starts off with Rico cutting off the ring and getting Errol into the corner using some knees to the body while Errol looks to back Rico up with his powerful hands and a few body kicks. Rico shows patience going for a left jab right leg kick combo and Errol sees the opening to land a deadly combination with his hands and put Rico flat on his back.

Rico is OUT! It was a brutal left hand that put Rico down and he can’t get up in time. Brutal four punch combo by Zimmerman and Saki is out to celebrate with Zimmerman.

Tomorrow evening in the West, tonight in the East Giorgio Petrosyan will return to the ring against Chinese star Xu Yan in the Hero Legends ring. Xu Yan is a local legend who has seen success internationally and has been one of China's greatest exports. Sure, it isn't the fight with Yodsanklai but such is life, right? There will absolutely be demand for it and people will work hard to make that fight come together in the future.

For now Xu Yan is a fantastic measuring stick for Petrosyan to see if he's still, indeed, the best in the world. A win here just makes us want to see him against Ristie again even more. There should be a live stream for this so we'll keep you posted.

Well, just like we all predicted, Lion Fight 12 made a big impression on AXS TV with some really entertaining fights tonight. We saw a Welterweight Champion crowned, we got to see Tiffany Van Soest once again show why she's one of the best female fighters we've ever seen and hell, we even got to see an elbow KO. Elbow KOs are a thing of beauty and somewhat unique to the sport of Muay Thai, which makes it a thing of beauty when it happens.

So here are the quick and dirty results as well as a highlight from AXS TV.